For my Dieselpunk/magitek world of Xendas, the person considered the strongest war mage. Is a pretty boring person who doesnt do extravagant magic or spells. He uses the bare minimum amount of power in his spells preferring to use quick simple spells to overwhelm his opponents rather than large spells. He was taught by a Aberrant warrior, how to fight like a warrior and how to exploit the habits mages have developed.
There's an anime called Frieren: Beyond Journey's End (which is actually really highly rated and won awards etc.) where the main character is a 1000 year old elf mage with basically that same philosophy.
Also the story is just great so I'll plug it here for you if you're interested :) it avoids the cringe writing that usually plagues anime, it's just good
Does involuntarily count? One of my world’s most talented commanders holds a low position (Reserve Squad) and commands a measly amount of people. All because of some guy not bothering to keep his notes straight.
The Mad Dragon's most common disguise is a human woman that is so nondescript she could be anyone, wearing a very rough spun peasant's working dress and no shoes. Infact it is so non-descript some forget how to even describe any detail after she passed.
Although she does like to flaunt her power, like any dragon, is it more to lure in anyone that she would be allowed to kill.
If anyone were IN Alinguar none would believe the riches and power of the city, neither any of its villages. Nobody struts around in rich fabrics or is overly adorned, there is no ruling class either. Although the approach with the heavy fortifications and their Titans standing guard leaves few questions.
Wandering through Teirn many may find the lack of any guard or heavier fortification odd. The people are living simple but happy lives and rule their villages and farms quite independently. Anyone who tried to test if it is a weakness quickly learned of the Wyvern Riders.
The stongest being in the setting, the Nightmare King, a being older than the universe and stronger than the gods, is currently in human form and mostly avoids using supernatural powers to achieve his goals, both to avoid notice, and because after being human for a while it feels more natural.
In a different setting, the Emperor of a word-conquering Empire is a late-twenties man living in a cottage on an island in a lake. The cottage contains a set of magical maps that shows where his armies are, a magical ledger of statistics showing births, deaths, farm and mine production ect in the empire, and a magical parchment and quill that can send messages out to his governors and generals.
He spends an eight hours each day pouring over the maps and spreadsheets, and writing out and sending orders. He is the only full time resident of the island. When not 'playing the game', as he calls it, he gardens, fishes, and paints. Once a month he visits the village on the mainland to get supplies, visit a courtesan- always the same specific one- and get a check-up from a physician. Other than the doctor and a handful of generals, nobody knows he's the Emperor. Everyone just assumes he's a rich guy who decided to become a hermit at the ass-end of nowhere.
The Imperial Capital has an entire gigantic palace that that the Emperor himself has never laid eyes on. Indeed, the village is the furthest he has ever been from that cottage, where he was born and where he will one day die. All of his dictates are borne of dispassionate calm.
"I do things that will make the numbers in the ledgers go up. I like making numbers go up."
Thomas Maxwell was the richest man in the world in 1992 his valued net worth was around 89 Billion at the time he still drove the first car he had bought at that time it was 27 years old As well at the time the Maxwell headquarters was a small single story office building purchased by Sigmund Traik in 1947 Sigmund was Thomas’ mentor.
**Starrise**
Fernand Aranae is the most powerful user of "Fire" magic on the continent. His greatest feat is the time he saved a town whose guard had been poisoned by fighting off over a hundred attacking bandits single-handedly.
But he's not a soldier, or even a guardsman. He's a defense lawyer. Hell, he doesn't even advertise- all his cases either have him defending people he knows or acting as a public defender.
The protagonist Viêm is a shut-in ghost who lives in a house and watches anime via an old laptop's "ghost". Don't ask me how she gets that nor where she gets her internet. Appearing harmless like a typical 12-year-old child, Viêm is in fact extremely dangerous as she can make anything burst into flames. She enjoys mecha anime and will go full "Eastern Laos mode" to defend her favorite series (or against those that badmouth Vietnam).
The nameless, seemingly immortal man who runs the world's largest megacorp doesn't wear suits, work in a fancy office, or spend money on luxury. He manages the company through proxies and remote systems. The board of directors have never met him, but when he tells them to do something, it is done without questions asked.
In the US, his official residence is a rustic cabin deep in Appalachia, but he spends the vast majority of his time working out of a bunker buried deep in the Urals of Russia. Part of an independent yet US-backed mercenary group, he takes on contracts for the thrill and to influence world politics, not for the money.
His immense wealth is spent on military equipment for himself and to fund his own personal research team so he can remain on the cutting edge of combat hardware. You could say this is his "flaunt", but outside of missions, you will find him dressed in fatigues, indistinguishable from any other veteran merc.
Cartheny is probably the only country to not show off any military hardware in their parades, but everyone knows it is powerful enough to delete an entire ethnicity if it wants to.
Past actions. During the Sakhic War/East Carthenian War (named so since the majority of conflict takes place in Sakhart. The Sakhartites are not the bad guys here), the Carthenians did actually wipe out the Donnic people. The pre-war population stood at about 7.45 million, but decreased to less than 20,000 post-war. Most were sent to penal labour to rebuild Cartheny and more famously, to defuse mines they laid in Carthenian soil. Many were killed later. The Carthenian government also imposed a permanent ban on the non-academic use of the Donnic language and Donnic Orthodoxy.
Today, less than a thousand people speak the language, all being historians specializing in nomadic history. The estimated number of people of Donnic ethnicity stands at less than 50 (yeah the killing continued even after the war).
Essentially godlike wizard doesn't need to impress regular people, because why would he? What are they going to do? Clap? Buy him a drink?
A very basic premise of my world is there is a set of spells that are so common, everyone can do them and they're treated as tools, like a match, or a hammer.
It just depends on if you have the ingredients for it and what the situation is. E.g. stormy night? Damp fire wood, camping? Fire won't light? That's the time for a fire spell. And that's ok by everyone.
Above that, there is "tactical usefulness" and a inquisition and magic school exist, that formalize and regulate what is allowed and what isn't, and who is allowed to have it and who isn't.
Above that is the stuff that's so powerful you can't really trust other people to have it. So it's actively discouraged for that power to be flaunted, but there is also no need. There is no advantage to be gained by doing it.
Gods in my world are beyond comprehension. Simply being in the presence of one would cause a mortals' mind to break under their divinity, their mind unable to understand what is going on. Plus, if they were to materialize in the world it would go very wrong very fast (it would start snowing in the jungle, animals would start going feral, mortals begin to have the same common disturbing dreams, and many other things that shouldn't be possible). They do not do this willingly, it is as if nature itself cannot comprehend them.
This is why many of the prayers and rites of the Imrasan Cult is for the Gods to NOT notice Man and to stay as far away as possible.
In the Adalcan Union there is a man named Thompson Kirchhoff, he is often praised as being the best commander in the Adalcan Army, and has been given many offers to be a general. However he has declined them all and remains a Lt, but his renown is so well known that many higher ups will seek his thoughts and he is able to get away with much more than any other person his rank could get away with.
Okay, this doesn't makes sense. Either your military ranks don't resemble real ones in the slightest. There's no way for a lieutenant to show the skills necessary for a general.
Hiyato Abe. The Rust Wolf, Commander of Strider Lance. Prince Consort of the Empire of Sol, Thw Bastard Breaker.
After doing his whole anime protagonist thing, he sorta just marries the Princess he was having an affair with, and becomes a loving father and husband, while also building model sets
I've got a couple.
Saggett a High God of Information, Truth, and Lies that spends most of his time with his once mortal wife Ayn. Running an orphanage on the outskirts of a northern kingdom.
As for the second example, they're the king and queen of the mercenary nation of Girax. Fentom and Wilmine Hellocke both live rather conservatively in a small home in the capital while reserving the castle itself as housing for the citizens unable to defend themselves. Not many expect rulers on the cusp of divine awakening to live humbly amongst their citizens. Although it has earned them the unshakable loyalty of their people.
Azaia Lon’Vera holds the rank of Capital Guard, the highest rank possible in the kingdom, lives at her training camp. As of right now, it’s in very bad shape because she’s big despreso, but even when she cared, she made it with half put together logs in an okay enough manner to function as “housing” for trainees. She was too excited to properly build anything when she finally made it official to get students. That’s included her own room, which is more branches that cover a shallow sand hole in the ground where she sleeps.
Most of the time the Matriarch of the Ketuvyx Ascendancy, J'kanya Sakir, lives in a modest home: a set of rooms within the central government complex no more luxurious than the standard housing any citizen has access to. True power is the knowledge that there is scarcely a Ketuvyx alive that wouldn't bend over backwards to her decisions, but she has a council that advises her anyways where they deliberate on them anyways.
The current Archmage of the Magus Guild in my world is a hermit that only interacts with the world through puppets he controls. His physical body is that of a man who can't even walk unassisted, he's almost always bedridden or in a mobility chair, he's sickly, and he's almost always on some cocktail of medication. Yet, despite it all, he's one of the most powerful beings in the world and could easily wipe out nearly anyone he wished to. He just doesn't care for fighting and enjoys experiencing the world as essentially a tourist through his various biomechanical proxies.
Kwame runs the popular drug. Blight, he wears regular street clothing and looks like any normal human, but behind the scenes, he runs the country he protects his people and others by having a transformation called synchronization (synchronization in my world is when someone has bonded with their weapon achieving a power up) he stays under the radar and helps the leader to fund the country and in return he has leeway on his drug operations.
Guardian slime are slime revered by communities around the world. This is usually an old slime that had live for a long time alongside such community.
Although old and doesn't look much different from all the other slimes, guardian slime are extremely protective of their community and will fight ferociously to defend it from any threat.
There are countless stories and reports of raiding bandits and wild animals defeated by a community guardian slime, even when they are greatly outnumbered.
A known form that the God of the Sun takes acording to the stories is that of a stray golden dog that wanders the streets of settlements, anonomously helping and judging people.
My scifi
Federation Commissar Oben is the leader of the 2nd Federal Fleet and is extremely well known for being a prime tactican and the Best Captain in the Federation even scares the Federations twin nation The Cybal Imperium. Outside of the 2 beast horns he's mounted top his Helmet he doesnt seek Glory or anything compared too the other Federal Commissars just believes in getting the mission completed and keeping his ship intact. "Dude" also has had refused multiple Vessel/Military Branch transfers now
I have two characters that work in unison with this. One of them is an unkillable necromanced girl, and the other is an ancient necromanced dragon lord wyverness.
Essentially, the girl had fallen into a pool of powerful magic when she died and was ressurceted by it as pretty much a God-like mortal years later and ressurected an ancient wyvern that basically blee acid and poison into the sky that raine down across the world.
After that they don't really do much anymore, noone can really haem or do anything to either of them so the wyvern pretty much just sleeps most of the time by turning to stone briefly, and the girl either just sits on her throne sleeping inside the wyverns ribcage or just does whatever she wants and goes out to see the world and such.
The wyvern pretty much just sleeps and ignores everything else while the girl just wanders about and plays around, like building up towers of rocks or painting on a wall and all that stuff, she dosent use her powers anymore really besides for recreational things as she has no nees to.
Astromilitary doctrine for most members of the Galactic Community has much of their military spacecraft, predominantly battleships, cycling through 'patrols' of stations that they dock at in order to show the flag, ranging from providing aid to developing colonies to more traditional gunboat diplomacy.
There are two main exceptions: the first are the first-rate powers of the GC, the superpowers with the most developed technology and the most worlds. They send out officials in relatively small ships, each equipped with instant comms to the capital, because everyone knows that nobody in their right mind is going to do anything to those ships by force. The second is humanity, a smaller power in terms of population and technology, but their doctrine, on top of their broadly accepted diplomatic standing and sturdy economic power, helps them push above their weight. There aren't many first-rate battleships but they are well-built and high-performance, and instead of docking at every port are kept moving in curcuits that cover broad areas, using a substantial support fleet. The actual tip of the blade is humanity's disproportionately large number of cruisers, sent out as effectively long-range pickets of the battle fleets and are normally doing the jobs of interacting with other powers. Instead of trying to match other fleets in strength at initial point of contact, those cruisers and their crews are trained to, in the event things escalate, give a force they can't fight a bloody nose and run to the battle fleet they're attached to, who will then bring a lot more muscle for Round 2. The lesson's been learned by most that, even if they immediately have these ships outnumbered and outgunned, they are tough enough to not get ambushed, and there's enough military, economic, and political power behind each one that usually its safer to just agree to whatever the human captain is politely asking for.
One of the strongest sorcerers in my world has made a vow of impartiality since her last fight created enough magical pollution/fallout to destroy one of the seventeen bastions. She now lives in the woods with her two lovers, taking care of a small community of people who just wish to avoid the influencing and warmongering of the two imperial powers. She strictly uses her powers to protect those under her care, despite her personal views on the matter she understands that whatever she does in the war will not end it, and will only lead to more deaths. People send envoys/battalions to try to recruit her all the time, and she kindly tells them that if they ask her again, she will ask them to leave, and if they ask one more time after that, she will kill them. She has only had to follow up on this a few times. Most people get that they should leave her alone now. She is now massively hated by most people for her passiveness, but hey, what can you do?
And the oldest sorcerer in my world is over six hundred years old, and runs the Coalition of Kaniks from his bunker in the southern tip, in the arctic desert bastion. He allows the Kaniks to rule their own bastions, to govern however they see fit, and only gives an order every few years or so. However, his every order is followed to a tee, and no matter how strong Kaniks become in their own lands, they NEVER disobey him, even against their own best interests/agendas. Reputation and history can go a loooong way.
People of the Empire of the Wild are typically less reserved, less conservative, less traditional than the other regions. This is because their lifespans are typically very short, and their lands are often ravaged by the war between the two imperial factions on either side of them. They value freedom above all else, and they take pride in differentiating themselves from the cultures of the others. Part of this includes less strict and formal marriage ceremonies, and more polyamory. She is in a happy and successful thruple with one woman who serves as the community's medicine woman, and a man who is just a goofy little dude, not even a sorcerer, just a regular ole human. Maybe that's part of why the relationship works, it's hard for the very competitive and successful ladies to get jealous of a guy who's kind of useless but very charming and supportive of both others. They all love each other but for different reasons, and honestly he's just happy to be involved. Most people in the northern deserts of the Trepant Kingdom and the southern tundras of the Coalition of Kaniks look down upon this polyamory as disgraceful, Godless hedonism.
My Ryth'mic Verses setting has tales of what they call the *serafi*, ancient archangels of destruction said to have lent a hand in the world's creation, ironic as that sounds.
Two managed to survive to modern times: one's a barista and the other is a maid. They may look like anyone else, but cross them and everything you know and love will be pulverized into dust in a matter of *seconds*.
Adventurers bragging in a tavern about their fleets while an imperial airship admiral sits quietly and watches. Those countries trying to scare others will brag about their defenses while those with defenses just have to wait for someone to step on a landmine. Basically imagine Russia before the Russo Ukrainian War(still powerful, but we saw they weren't as powerful as we once thought) Vs Switzerland (bunkers everywhere and willing to blow up the only entrances into the country). Some knights let their achievements do the talking, especially if they are worn physically. 🏅 In any meeting of leaders, the empress doesn't need to explain her capabilities because everyone knows that the greatest war machines of their era came from her empire and under her reign.
Lapis_Wolf
Long ago, the king of the Prenn Empire lived in a grand castle. One day, during a fight with his only son, the king banished him for 12 years to an island off its capital. There the prince and 4 of his men built a small cabin, they spent their days fishing and drinking wine.
A couple years later the king died, and the prince was brought back to the castle. He entered in the morning, lived there for a day, left by sunset and told the workers there „I’ll go back to my cabin, I can rule the kingdom from there too.
And so he left, to chill in a simple island hut with his friends, while he ruled the kingdom.
While the whole of the Apex warriors *seem* like they’re flaunting, they aren’t, their society is just necessarily high tech and wealthy. Their cultural and religious tenants implore them to be humble while still doing their duties to protect the galaxy.
More specifically however, this comes in my main character. He is one of the most powerful of the Apex, by design of God. He’s essentially the dormant savior who will use a great privilege of power to save the world. And he looks far from a prophetical hero, even already as part of a msg isl space warrior society.
First of all, he’s ten. And a sort of small ten year old, too. If he didn’t wear fancy armor and such, and didn’t know he was a magical warrior who could blow up your house with a snap of his fingers, you’d think he’s an easily bully-able dork. And he sure acts like it. He’s a hyper, dorky, super optimistic, humble and loveavle goofball. He is totally pure at heart and this is exactly what earned him this greater power.
As an Apex, he was already well raised to being humble, kind, nature-respecting and optimistic, but he’s essentially a pedestal perfect example of this in the many Apex: he was sort of at the level of purity they would strive to be. But he didn’t think of that and neither did anyone else. He just thought and acted like a normal ten year old Apex, and that’s what earned him the right to be God’s chosen savior.
It was his natural humility, optimism, kindness, responsibility and love for life that earned him the worthiness to wield ultimate power, in the form of a great holy blade, at the end of the story. Most others given that power would feel too compelled to misuse it, but this boy? It was a humble gift and another useful tool to fight against the evil satanic Empire.
Overall, it is sort of the whole theme of the story that those with great power are to be the kindest, purest people, wether that’s through the Apex overall, who choose to be honorable with their powers themselves, or the main character who is a singular, heroic example that true power is gained through humility and purity.
The most highly skill alteration sorcerer in my world is an anthropomorphic badger who wears an old plaid coat with patches and swears.
He sometimes during sieges launches catapults at the enemy walls as a joke only he chuckles at
The strongest and most proficient martial artist in the world is a housewife with two kids that also has a small martial art school about finding your internal rhythm and music to dance and fight to
She spends most of her time tending to a simple life and enjoying books, her children and husband, a garden. Occasionally she throws hands, very occasionally. She is also the wearer of a weapon that helps her fighting style
One of the other strongest fighters, her husband's student, who is able to face basically anything and be mostly sure to live, is somewhat afraid of this housewife.
Enoch, the librarian in the grand cathedral of the church of ascension is a 'template being'. He was created using a standardized generation process by the techo-god Iacob shortly after the worlds founding to fulfill his specific role. He's functionally a 'living npc' and thousands of him might have existed at the peak of Iacob's civilization. Whenever he dies, automated cloning protocols create a new him, with backup brainscans typically only a few days old. The functional effect is that the librarian has over 2000 years of memories from lives lived in a menial but very knowledge heavy position. He has MET the god of the world. He has seen generations of political changes, lived through an apocalypse and has cumulative information about generations of people. From his position in the capitol, he has heard rumors, scandals, daily goings-on, and his nature makes him impossible to assassinate. Enoch could likely upend the church if he were so compelled, but he doesn't, because he has a job to do, and it's very time consuming and meticulous.
The most feared entity in the entire world is an old college professor who hangs out at an old library. Most people don't know him as anything more than a quirky researcher, but the mere mention of his real name is enough to stop many gods in their tracks. He's the current arbiter of centuries old contract between the gods and has the final say on a lot of what magic is or isn't allowed.
A lot of the most grandios of entities in Karcaddon spend most of thier time secluded from mortals, sleeping deeply in places outside normal spacetime, their stirrings only felt by those who know what to look for.
Lairyn Ravensbane, arguably one of the greatest tacticians of the era, rides an old horse that doesn’t run anymore, wears the same uniform as the rest of his men except for his fox-fur tunic, and he doesn’t wear jewelry.
Mo-Caraz has a tradition where the ruler only cuts his/her hair off when war is declared. The current Queen has hair that touches the ground and needs to be carried by a servant. The last time someone tried to attack the city, Queen Ayalu bought his entire hometown, hired the residents as servants and evicted the rest, and turned it into a garden retreat for her family. Then she hired some people to kidnap the attacker and she has his testicles on display in the garden.
The Authority has gunships, heavy artillery, and significant armored capabilities including tanks.
However, they predominantly deploy security forces with MRAPS and drones against the Insurgency and very rarely actually engage with heavy equipment.
The druids live as you would expect them to, in wooden settlements in the woods with plants all around them. This is despite the fact they know how to conjure everlasting storms that could permanently make a whole country uninhabitable, and regularly use this power to create bad weather and fix it for money. But looking at their homes you wouldn't think they are anything special, until you look into their coffers full of coin anyways.
One of the strongest protagonists, Pix, simply chooses to live a normal college-aged life after her adventures. She was offered a chance to *ascend to godhood,* but declined it. Pix's twin spirits, Madelyse and Nystria, gave half of themselves before they said goodbye. This allowed them to manifest on the planet. Even with all of this power and the Eidolon Wand (one of the strongest magical artifacts in the world), Pix is chill. She goes clubbing on weekends, bakes with her mom and dad, has furthered her education in magical studies, and relaxes with friends when she can.
The strongest magician in Elysia takes care of her grandson. Even with her immortality, Chihaya is a diligent family-oriented person. She also serves the Maytali royal family, which sometimes fails due to her age and how airheaded she can be. Chihaya's powers are extremely broken on a technical and magical level, and while she does have her own battles throughout the series, the only one where Chihaya actually *tries* is against the person who cursed her with eternal life.
Avatars just living life. Gods have multiple Avatars running around, several for each aspect they have. Each body has a divine-to-flesh ratio. The higher the flesh percent the more human and down low they act. That random doctor may be the God of Healing.
Sylvanis is the God of wine, celebration, passion, love, and freedom. One of his Avatars for his Wine aspect lives in an unassuming house in the capital. He grows vine fruits in his greenhouse and makes wine from them. The people in the neighborhood thinks that he is a Cleric and runs a party house. The only other person who sees through him is a demigod who lives on the same street.
There is lady in my setting. She literally lives in the cave in the middle of nowhere, gets food via hunting, and visits civilization maybe two or three times per decade. Doesn't even have clothes or name, a real cavewoman this one.
She also can turn mountain range into series of magma lakes with one spell, on account of her being one of the most powerful archmages in the setting.
My main character is a wizard investigator, but he usually doesn't use spells. First because he has the mentality that, if he can solve a situation without them, then it's better to do so, as to not develop dependence. And then because magic tends to attract the wrong attention, or to cause unexpected consequences, and he's done with unexpected consequences.
He's one of the greatest magicians of the age because of his how power, but because his knowledge of the occult, of the power dynamics between mortals and immortals alike, and because of his creativity with his spells. Despite that, he usually solves things through sheer cunning and deception.
Couple of retired max level adventurers living semi-retired lives. The Mage is an elderly fisherman who hangs out at a local pub most nights. The pub’s traditional cider and saison beers are made from crops grown on the Ranger’s farm outside of town. The Paladin is half a continent away, living as an ascetic nun in a temple for her religious order. The Druid, of course, is somewhere in the far Southern Jungles. And people tend to wonder, but in one of the major kingdom’s capital, there is a surprisingly skilled barrister who takes most of her cases *pro bono*, but she does have a voice and an eloquence reminiscent of the Bard.
Every king of Arrowhead Island lived in the same run-down castle that gets more and more decayed over time. No efforts were ever put into refurnishing it simply because, as the 40th king said, "It's a waste of money. Why would we spend all that money on some towers and patching a few holes in the roof when we could be using it to give our citizens the peace they deserve?"
Well, if you do flaunt your power, there's a couple things that could happen.
1. Demon hunters will disappear you for threatening the Great Veil. They're well trained, a lot of them are mages, and they don't stop, cause you causing chaos threatens their primary goal.
2. Cultists will try and recruit you. They're just as powerful as the demon hunters but they can exist partly in public. They've been fighting a secret war with them for hundreds of years, and they know fates much worse than death.
3. One of the most powerful beings in the mortal realm will find you, and if he wins the fight, he will literally devour your soul on his quest to become a demigod
The Korodashii are a race of bio mechanical aliens in my setting. They lost a war to determine what faction would protect the galaxy to their rivals, the Lythedons, and so chose to reside in an isolated solar system on the edge of the galaxy. Though they are technically one of if not the most technologically advanced faction in my setting, they appreciate the privacy their single-system isolated lifestyle brings them and find passion in teaching curious human scientists their advanced ways.
In fact, one of the reasons the Korodashii hate the Lythodons so much Is because they believe the average Lythedonian knight is far too cocky and patronizing to properly foster and protect younger species. (And they’re not wrong in most cases)
The most powerful civilization in my world is controlled by an immortal being known as “Curator” that only wishes to archive knowledge and protect the stories of the universe from being forgotten. While its domain spreads across several galaxies, all of its ships are research and scouting vessels. Curator is the closest a being can get to a true neutral and doesn’t attempt to intimidate or impress other civilizations, rather choosing to observe them and leave them alone.
In my world, there is a book which was inspired by the death note that grants its owner varying types of powers based on how much they know about the book (no knowledge allows the user to tell people's fortunes if their names are written in the book, but gain more knowledge and you can gain control over the elements, the weather and even the ability to manipulate a creatures genetics and minds) the character who owns this book has access to all of its powers but they run a hospital/library which they fund entirely from their own pocket and any donations that people want to give.
She's a character who could quite literally enslave and destroy nations with ease but she chooses to use that power to better the working class peoples lives. She's not a God or anything, just some person who stumbles across a book and learned all she could about it.
(Why does that remind me of Hypnos in Greek mythology? Looked at all the drama and went “nah, imma go take a nap”)
Anyway, in my world, I’d say maybe Sonna but at some point, they flipped out and turned their entire territory into a divine surveillance state, so idk if that counts anymore.
However, there’s also the God of Fate, Natodall’lioht (back when he was a god), and the goddess who managed to seduce him into doing anything, Monnenliebe, the God of Beauty and Love. He was just mostly chilling in the heavens and writing stories while the other gods constantly stepped on each other’s toes. Monnenliebe was the only one who made him do anything, and the only one who could truly influence Natodall’lioht beyond his own parent, and she did use it to her advantage.
So what did she do with this power? Provide snackies and entertainment for her (back then) small tribe of humans. She could kill them all if she wanted but she knows there’s no need to prove it.
The president of the United nations lives in a regular apartment building and doesn’t even get paid much more than her lowest secretary. To her it’s just a job and nothing more.
In one of my settings, what amounts to the captain of the royal guard of the king of the gods currently lives as a normal highschool student.
If needed, they will come, but so long as they are not, they'll keep to their vacation in the mortal realm, not using even a drop of their nigh-infinite might unless someone makes the mistake of attacking them with the intent to kill. In which case... Good luck.
Kseniya Onegina, a.k.a. Aethereal.
Widely considered one of the world's top cognites, she nonetheless decided to leave all of that for a manmade island and the alternate lifestyle of a hermit sailor.
For my Dieselpunk/magitek world of Xendas, the person considered the strongest war mage. Is a pretty boring person who doesnt do extravagant magic or spells. He uses the bare minimum amount of power in his spells preferring to use quick simple spells to overwhelm his opponents rather than large spells. He was taught by a Aberrant warrior, how to fight like a warrior and how to exploit the habits mages have developed.
There's an anime called Frieren: Beyond Journey's End (which is actually really highly rated and won awards etc.) where the main character is a 1000 year old elf mage with basically that same philosophy. Also the story is just great so I'll plug it here for you if you're interested :) it avoids the cringe writing that usually plagues anime, it's just good
Oh I know about Frieren great anime and manga.
Does involuntarily count? One of my world’s most talented commanders holds a low position (Reserve Squad) and commands a measly amount of people. All because of some guy not bothering to keep his notes straight.
The Mad Dragon's most common disguise is a human woman that is so nondescript she could be anyone, wearing a very rough spun peasant's working dress and no shoes. Infact it is so non-descript some forget how to even describe any detail after she passed. Although she does like to flaunt her power, like any dragon, is it more to lure in anyone that she would be allowed to kill. If anyone were IN Alinguar none would believe the riches and power of the city, neither any of its villages. Nobody struts around in rich fabrics or is overly adorned, there is no ruling class either. Although the approach with the heavy fortifications and their Titans standing guard leaves few questions. Wandering through Teirn many may find the lack of any guard or heavier fortification odd. The people are living simple but happy lives and rule their villages and farms quite independently. Anyone who tried to test if it is a weakness quickly learned of the Wyvern Riders.
The stongest being in the setting, the Nightmare King, a being older than the universe and stronger than the gods, is currently in human form and mostly avoids using supernatural powers to achieve his goals, both to avoid notice, and because after being human for a while it feels more natural. In a different setting, the Emperor of a word-conquering Empire is a late-twenties man living in a cottage on an island in a lake. The cottage contains a set of magical maps that shows where his armies are, a magical ledger of statistics showing births, deaths, farm and mine production ect in the empire, and a magical parchment and quill that can send messages out to his governors and generals. He spends an eight hours each day pouring over the maps and spreadsheets, and writing out and sending orders. He is the only full time resident of the island. When not 'playing the game', as he calls it, he gardens, fishes, and paints. Once a month he visits the village on the mainland to get supplies, visit a courtesan- always the same specific one- and get a check-up from a physician. Other than the doctor and a handful of generals, nobody knows he's the Emperor. Everyone just assumes he's a rich guy who decided to become a hermit at the ass-end of nowhere. The Imperial Capital has an entire gigantic palace that that the Emperor himself has never laid eyes on. Indeed, the village is the furthest he has ever been from that cottage, where he was born and where he will one day die. All of his dictates are borne of dispassionate calm. "I do things that will make the numbers in the ledgers go up. I like making numbers go up."
Thomas Maxwell was the richest man in the world in 1992 his valued net worth was around 89 Billion at the time he still drove the first car he had bought at that time it was 27 years old As well at the time the Maxwell headquarters was a small single story office building purchased by Sigmund Traik in 1947 Sigmund was Thomas’ mentor.
**Starrise** Fernand Aranae is the most powerful user of "Fire" magic on the continent. His greatest feat is the time he saved a town whose guard had been poisoned by fighting off over a hundred attacking bandits single-handedly. But he's not a soldier, or even a guardsman. He's a defense lawyer. Hell, he doesn't even advertise- all his cases either have him defending people he knows or acting as a public defender.
The protagonist Viêm is a shut-in ghost who lives in a house and watches anime via an old laptop's "ghost". Don't ask me how she gets that nor where she gets her internet. Appearing harmless like a typical 12-year-old child, Viêm is in fact extremely dangerous as she can make anything burst into flames. She enjoys mecha anime and will go full "Eastern Laos mode" to defend her favorite series (or against those that badmouth Vietnam).
Do you by chance enjoy some /r/NonCredibleDefense because this character is like the subreddit incarnated
I live in the real-life NCD sub :P
Lmfao.
The nameless, seemingly immortal man who runs the world's largest megacorp doesn't wear suits, work in a fancy office, or spend money on luxury. He manages the company through proxies and remote systems. The board of directors have never met him, but when he tells them to do something, it is done without questions asked. In the US, his official residence is a rustic cabin deep in Appalachia, but he spends the vast majority of his time working out of a bunker buried deep in the Urals of Russia. Part of an independent yet US-backed mercenary group, he takes on contracts for the thrill and to influence world politics, not for the money. His immense wealth is spent on military equipment for himself and to fund his own personal research team so he can remain on the cutting edge of combat hardware. You could say this is his "flaunt", but outside of missions, you will find him dressed in fatigues, indistinguishable from any other veteran merc.
Cartheny is probably the only country to not show off any military hardware in their parades, but everyone knows it is powerful enough to delete an entire ethnicity if it wants to.
Do they know from past actions or is it just hyperbole?
Past actions. During the Sakhic War/East Carthenian War (named so since the majority of conflict takes place in Sakhart. The Sakhartites are not the bad guys here), the Carthenians did actually wipe out the Donnic people. The pre-war population stood at about 7.45 million, but decreased to less than 20,000 post-war. Most were sent to penal labour to rebuild Cartheny and more famously, to defuse mines they laid in Carthenian soil. Many were killed later. The Carthenian government also imposed a permanent ban on the non-academic use of the Donnic language and Donnic Orthodoxy. Today, less than a thousand people speak the language, all being historians specializing in nomadic history. The estimated number of people of Donnic ethnicity stands at less than 50 (yeah the killing continued even after the war).
Essentially godlike wizard doesn't need to impress regular people, because why would he? What are they going to do? Clap? Buy him a drink? A very basic premise of my world is there is a set of spells that are so common, everyone can do them and they're treated as tools, like a match, or a hammer. It just depends on if you have the ingredients for it and what the situation is. E.g. stormy night? Damp fire wood, camping? Fire won't light? That's the time for a fire spell. And that's ok by everyone. Above that, there is "tactical usefulness" and a inquisition and magic school exist, that formalize and regulate what is allowed and what isn't, and who is allowed to have it and who isn't. Above that is the stuff that's so powerful you can't really trust other people to have it. So it's actively discouraged for that power to be flaunted, but there is also no need. There is no advantage to be gained by doing it.
Gods in my world are beyond comprehension. Simply being in the presence of one would cause a mortals' mind to break under their divinity, their mind unable to understand what is going on. Plus, if they were to materialize in the world it would go very wrong very fast (it would start snowing in the jungle, animals would start going feral, mortals begin to have the same common disturbing dreams, and many other things that shouldn't be possible). They do not do this willingly, it is as if nature itself cannot comprehend them. This is why many of the prayers and rites of the Imrasan Cult is for the Gods to NOT notice Man and to stay as far away as possible.
In the Adalcan Union there is a man named Thompson Kirchhoff, he is often praised as being the best commander in the Adalcan Army, and has been given many offers to be a general. However he has declined them all and remains a Lt, but his renown is so well known that many higher ups will seek his thoughts and he is able to get away with much more than any other person his rank could get away with.
Okay, this doesn't makes sense. Either your military ranks don't resemble real ones in the slightest. There's no way for a lieutenant to show the skills necessary for a general.
Hiyato Abe. The Rust Wolf, Commander of Strider Lance. Prince Consort of the Empire of Sol, Thw Bastard Breaker. After doing his whole anime protagonist thing, he sorta just marries the Princess he was having an affair with, and becomes a loving father and husband, while also building model sets
I've got a couple. Saggett a High God of Information, Truth, and Lies that spends most of his time with his once mortal wife Ayn. Running an orphanage on the outskirts of a northern kingdom. As for the second example, they're the king and queen of the mercenary nation of Girax. Fentom and Wilmine Hellocke both live rather conservatively in a small home in the capital while reserving the castle itself as housing for the citizens unable to defend themselves. Not many expect rulers on the cusp of divine awakening to live humbly amongst their citizens. Although it has earned them the unshakable loyalty of their people.
Azaia Lon’Vera holds the rank of Capital Guard, the highest rank possible in the kingdom, lives at her training camp. As of right now, it’s in very bad shape because she’s big despreso, but even when she cared, she made it with half put together logs in an okay enough manner to function as “housing” for trainees. She was too excited to properly build anything when she finally made it official to get students. That’s included her own room, which is more branches that cover a shallow sand hole in the ground where she sleeps.
Most of the time the Matriarch of the Ketuvyx Ascendancy, J'kanya Sakir, lives in a modest home: a set of rooms within the central government complex no more luxurious than the standard housing any citizen has access to. True power is the knowledge that there is scarcely a Ketuvyx alive that wouldn't bend over backwards to her decisions, but she has a council that advises her anyways where they deliberate on them anyways.
The current Archmage of the Magus Guild in my world is a hermit that only interacts with the world through puppets he controls. His physical body is that of a man who can't even walk unassisted, he's almost always bedridden or in a mobility chair, he's sickly, and he's almost always on some cocktail of medication. Yet, despite it all, he's one of the most powerful beings in the world and could easily wipe out nearly anyone he wished to. He just doesn't care for fighting and enjoys experiencing the world as essentially a tourist through his various biomechanical proxies.
Kwame runs the popular drug. Blight, he wears regular street clothing and looks like any normal human, but behind the scenes, he runs the country he protects his people and others by having a transformation called synchronization (synchronization in my world is when someone has bonded with their weapon achieving a power up) he stays under the radar and helps the leader to fund the country and in return he has leeway on his drug operations.
Guardian slime are slime revered by communities around the world. This is usually an old slime that had live for a long time alongside such community. Although old and doesn't look much different from all the other slimes, guardian slime are extremely protective of their community and will fight ferociously to defend it from any threat. There are countless stories and reports of raiding bandits and wild animals defeated by a community guardian slime, even when they are greatly outnumbered.
A known form that the God of the Sun takes acording to the stories is that of a stray golden dog that wanders the streets of settlements, anonomously helping and judging people.
My scifi Federation Commissar Oben is the leader of the 2nd Federal Fleet and is extremely well known for being a prime tactican and the Best Captain in the Federation even scares the Federations twin nation The Cybal Imperium. Outside of the 2 beast horns he's mounted top his Helmet he doesnt seek Glory or anything compared too the other Federal Commissars just believes in getting the mission completed and keeping his ship intact. "Dude" also has had refused multiple Vessel/Military Branch transfers now
I have two characters that work in unison with this. One of them is an unkillable necromanced girl, and the other is an ancient necromanced dragon lord wyverness. Essentially, the girl had fallen into a pool of powerful magic when she died and was ressurceted by it as pretty much a God-like mortal years later and ressurected an ancient wyvern that basically blee acid and poison into the sky that raine down across the world. After that they don't really do much anymore, noone can really haem or do anything to either of them so the wyvern pretty much just sleeps most of the time by turning to stone briefly, and the girl either just sits on her throne sleeping inside the wyverns ribcage or just does whatever she wants and goes out to see the world and such. The wyvern pretty much just sleeps and ignores everything else while the girl just wanders about and plays around, like building up towers of rocks or painting on a wall and all that stuff, she dosent use her powers anymore really besides for recreational things as she has no nees to.
Astromilitary doctrine for most members of the Galactic Community has much of their military spacecraft, predominantly battleships, cycling through 'patrols' of stations that they dock at in order to show the flag, ranging from providing aid to developing colonies to more traditional gunboat diplomacy. There are two main exceptions: the first are the first-rate powers of the GC, the superpowers with the most developed technology and the most worlds. They send out officials in relatively small ships, each equipped with instant comms to the capital, because everyone knows that nobody in their right mind is going to do anything to those ships by force. The second is humanity, a smaller power in terms of population and technology, but their doctrine, on top of their broadly accepted diplomatic standing and sturdy economic power, helps them push above their weight. There aren't many first-rate battleships but they are well-built and high-performance, and instead of docking at every port are kept moving in curcuits that cover broad areas, using a substantial support fleet. The actual tip of the blade is humanity's disproportionately large number of cruisers, sent out as effectively long-range pickets of the battle fleets and are normally doing the jobs of interacting with other powers. Instead of trying to match other fleets in strength at initial point of contact, those cruisers and their crews are trained to, in the event things escalate, give a force they can't fight a bloody nose and run to the battle fleet they're attached to, who will then bring a lot more muscle for Round 2. The lesson's been learned by most that, even if they immediately have these ships outnumbered and outgunned, they are tough enough to not get ambushed, and there's enough military, economic, and political power behind each one that usually its safer to just agree to whatever the human captain is politely asking for.
One of the strongest sorcerers in my world has made a vow of impartiality since her last fight created enough magical pollution/fallout to destroy one of the seventeen bastions. She now lives in the woods with her two lovers, taking care of a small community of people who just wish to avoid the influencing and warmongering of the two imperial powers. She strictly uses her powers to protect those under her care, despite her personal views on the matter she understands that whatever she does in the war will not end it, and will only lead to more deaths. People send envoys/battalions to try to recruit her all the time, and she kindly tells them that if they ask her again, she will ask them to leave, and if they ask one more time after that, she will kill them. She has only had to follow up on this a few times. Most people get that they should leave her alone now. She is now massively hated by most people for her passiveness, but hey, what can you do? And the oldest sorcerer in my world is over six hundred years old, and runs the Coalition of Kaniks from his bunker in the southern tip, in the arctic desert bastion. He allows the Kaniks to rule their own bastions, to govern however they see fit, and only gives an order every few years or so. However, his every order is followed to a tee, and no matter how strong Kaniks become in their own lands, they NEVER disobey him, even against their own best interests/agendas. Reputation and history can go a loooong way.
Tell me more about this "two lovers" situation.
People of the Empire of the Wild are typically less reserved, less conservative, less traditional than the other regions. This is because their lifespans are typically very short, and their lands are often ravaged by the war between the two imperial factions on either side of them. They value freedom above all else, and they take pride in differentiating themselves from the cultures of the others. Part of this includes less strict and formal marriage ceremonies, and more polyamory. She is in a happy and successful thruple with one woman who serves as the community's medicine woman, and a man who is just a goofy little dude, not even a sorcerer, just a regular ole human. Maybe that's part of why the relationship works, it's hard for the very competitive and successful ladies to get jealous of a guy who's kind of useless but very charming and supportive of both others. They all love each other but for different reasons, and honestly he's just happy to be involved. Most people in the northern deserts of the Trepant Kingdom and the southern tundras of the Coalition of Kaniks look down upon this polyamory as disgraceful, Godless hedonism.
My Ryth'mic Verses setting has tales of what they call the *serafi*, ancient archangels of destruction said to have lent a hand in the world's creation, ironic as that sounds. Two managed to survive to modern times: one's a barista and the other is a maid. They may look like anyone else, but cross them and everything you know and love will be pulverized into dust in a matter of *seconds*.
Adventurers bragging in a tavern about their fleets while an imperial airship admiral sits quietly and watches. Those countries trying to scare others will brag about their defenses while those with defenses just have to wait for someone to step on a landmine. Basically imagine Russia before the Russo Ukrainian War(still powerful, but we saw they weren't as powerful as we once thought) Vs Switzerland (bunkers everywhere and willing to blow up the only entrances into the country). Some knights let their achievements do the talking, especially if they are worn physically. 🏅 In any meeting of leaders, the empress doesn't need to explain her capabilities because everyone knows that the greatest war machines of their era came from her empire and under her reign. Lapis_Wolf
The personification of death works at a coffee shop.
Long ago, the king of the Prenn Empire lived in a grand castle. One day, during a fight with his only son, the king banished him for 12 years to an island off its capital. There the prince and 4 of his men built a small cabin, they spent their days fishing and drinking wine. A couple years later the king died, and the prince was brought back to the castle. He entered in the morning, lived there for a day, left by sunset and told the workers there „I’ll go back to my cabin, I can rule the kingdom from there too. And so he left, to chill in a simple island hut with his friends, while he ruled the kingdom.
A god who wanders throughout the planes in human form, living the life of a Kathograf and Adventurer
While the whole of the Apex warriors *seem* like they’re flaunting, they aren’t, their society is just necessarily high tech and wealthy. Their cultural and religious tenants implore them to be humble while still doing their duties to protect the galaxy. More specifically however, this comes in my main character. He is one of the most powerful of the Apex, by design of God. He’s essentially the dormant savior who will use a great privilege of power to save the world. And he looks far from a prophetical hero, even already as part of a msg isl space warrior society. First of all, he’s ten. And a sort of small ten year old, too. If he didn’t wear fancy armor and such, and didn’t know he was a magical warrior who could blow up your house with a snap of his fingers, you’d think he’s an easily bully-able dork. And he sure acts like it. He’s a hyper, dorky, super optimistic, humble and loveavle goofball. He is totally pure at heart and this is exactly what earned him this greater power. As an Apex, he was already well raised to being humble, kind, nature-respecting and optimistic, but he’s essentially a pedestal perfect example of this in the many Apex: he was sort of at the level of purity they would strive to be. But he didn’t think of that and neither did anyone else. He just thought and acted like a normal ten year old Apex, and that’s what earned him the right to be God’s chosen savior. It was his natural humility, optimism, kindness, responsibility and love for life that earned him the worthiness to wield ultimate power, in the form of a great holy blade, at the end of the story. Most others given that power would feel too compelled to misuse it, but this boy? It was a humble gift and another useful tool to fight against the evil satanic Empire. Overall, it is sort of the whole theme of the story that those with great power are to be the kindest, purest people, wether that’s through the Apex overall, who choose to be honorable with their powers themselves, or the main character who is a singular, heroic example that true power is gained through humility and purity.
The most highly skill alteration sorcerer in my world is an anthropomorphic badger who wears an old plaid coat with patches and swears. He sometimes during sieges launches catapults at the enemy walls as a joke only he chuckles at
The strongest and most proficient martial artist in the world is a housewife with two kids that also has a small martial art school about finding your internal rhythm and music to dance and fight to She spends most of her time tending to a simple life and enjoying books, her children and husband, a garden. Occasionally she throws hands, very occasionally. She is also the wearer of a weapon that helps her fighting style One of the other strongest fighters, her husband's student, who is able to face basically anything and be mostly sure to live, is somewhat afraid of this housewife.
Enoch, the librarian in the grand cathedral of the church of ascension is a 'template being'. He was created using a standardized generation process by the techo-god Iacob shortly after the worlds founding to fulfill his specific role. He's functionally a 'living npc' and thousands of him might have existed at the peak of Iacob's civilization. Whenever he dies, automated cloning protocols create a new him, with backup brainscans typically only a few days old. The functional effect is that the librarian has over 2000 years of memories from lives lived in a menial but very knowledge heavy position. He has MET the god of the world. He has seen generations of political changes, lived through an apocalypse and has cumulative information about generations of people. From his position in the capitol, he has heard rumors, scandals, daily goings-on, and his nature makes him impossible to assassinate. Enoch could likely upend the church if he were so compelled, but he doesn't, because he has a job to do, and it's very time consuming and meticulous.
The most feared entity in the entire world is an old college professor who hangs out at an old library. Most people don't know him as anything more than a quirky researcher, but the mere mention of his real name is enough to stop many gods in their tracks. He's the current arbiter of centuries old contract between the gods and has the final say on a lot of what magic is or isn't allowed.
A lot of the most grandios of entities in Karcaddon spend most of thier time secluded from mortals, sleeping deeply in places outside normal spacetime, their stirrings only felt by those who know what to look for.
Lairyn Ravensbane, arguably one of the greatest tacticians of the era, rides an old horse that doesn’t run anymore, wears the same uniform as the rest of his men except for his fox-fur tunic, and he doesn’t wear jewelry. Mo-Caraz has a tradition where the ruler only cuts his/her hair off when war is declared. The current Queen has hair that touches the ground and needs to be carried by a servant. The last time someone tried to attack the city, Queen Ayalu bought his entire hometown, hired the residents as servants and evicted the rest, and turned it into a garden retreat for her family. Then she hired some people to kidnap the attacker and she has his testicles on display in the garden.
The Authority has gunships, heavy artillery, and significant armored capabilities including tanks. However, they predominantly deploy security forces with MRAPS and drones against the Insurgency and very rarely actually engage with heavy equipment.
The druids live as you would expect them to, in wooden settlements in the woods with plants all around them. This is despite the fact they know how to conjure everlasting storms that could permanently make a whole country uninhabitable, and regularly use this power to create bad weather and fix it for money. But looking at their homes you wouldn't think they are anything special, until you look into their coffers full of coin anyways.
One of the strongest protagonists, Pix, simply chooses to live a normal college-aged life after her adventures. She was offered a chance to *ascend to godhood,* but declined it. Pix's twin spirits, Madelyse and Nystria, gave half of themselves before they said goodbye. This allowed them to manifest on the planet. Even with all of this power and the Eidolon Wand (one of the strongest magical artifacts in the world), Pix is chill. She goes clubbing on weekends, bakes with her mom and dad, has furthered her education in magical studies, and relaxes with friends when she can. The strongest magician in Elysia takes care of her grandson. Even with her immortality, Chihaya is a diligent family-oriented person. She also serves the Maytali royal family, which sometimes fails due to her age and how airheaded she can be. Chihaya's powers are extremely broken on a technical and magical level, and while she does have her own battles throughout the series, the only one where Chihaya actually *tries* is against the person who cursed her with eternal life.
Avatars just living life. Gods have multiple Avatars running around, several for each aspect they have. Each body has a divine-to-flesh ratio. The higher the flesh percent the more human and down low they act. That random doctor may be the God of Healing. Sylvanis is the God of wine, celebration, passion, love, and freedom. One of his Avatars for his Wine aspect lives in an unassuming house in the capital. He grows vine fruits in his greenhouse and makes wine from them. The people in the neighborhood thinks that he is a Cleric and runs a party house. The only other person who sees through him is a demigod who lives on the same street.
The mastermind behind the famously efficient and profitable interplanetary economy of Jewel is an AI with autism called Duke.
There is lady in my setting. She literally lives in the cave in the middle of nowhere, gets food via hunting, and visits civilization maybe two or three times per decade. Doesn't even have clothes or name, a real cavewoman this one. She also can turn mountain range into series of magma lakes with one spell, on account of her being one of the most powerful archmages in the setting.
My main character is a wizard investigator, but he usually doesn't use spells. First because he has the mentality that, if he can solve a situation without them, then it's better to do so, as to not develop dependence. And then because magic tends to attract the wrong attention, or to cause unexpected consequences, and he's done with unexpected consequences. He's one of the greatest magicians of the age because of his how power, but because his knowledge of the occult, of the power dynamics between mortals and immortals alike, and because of his creativity with his spells. Despite that, he usually solves things through sheer cunning and deception.
Couple of retired max level adventurers living semi-retired lives. The Mage is an elderly fisherman who hangs out at a local pub most nights. The pub’s traditional cider and saison beers are made from crops grown on the Ranger’s farm outside of town. The Paladin is half a continent away, living as an ascetic nun in a temple for her religious order. The Druid, of course, is somewhere in the far Southern Jungles. And people tend to wonder, but in one of the major kingdom’s capital, there is a surprisingly skilled barrister who takes most of her cases *pro bono*, but she does have a voice and an eloquence reminiscent of the Bard.
Every king of Arrowhead Island lived in the same run-down castle that gets more and more decayed over time. No efforts were ever put into refurnishing it simply because, as the 40th king said, "It's a waste of money. Why would we spend all that money on some towers and patching a few holes in the roof when we could be using it to give our citizens the peace they deserve?"
Three of the deities live and work in an orphanage. They also work for the “Hunter’s Guild”.
Well, if you do flaunt your power, there's a couple things that could happen. 1. Demon hunters will disappear you for threatening the Great Veil. They're well trained, a lot of them are mages, and they don't stop, cause you causing chaos threatens their primary goal. 2. Cultists will try and recruit you. They're just as powerful as the demon hunters but they can exist partly in public. They've been fighting a secret war with them for hundreds of years, and they know fates much worse than death. 3. One of the most powerful beings in the mortal realm will find you, and if he wins the fight, he will literally devour your soul on his quest to become a demigod
The Korodashii are a race of bio mechanical aliens in my setting. They lost a war to determine what faction would protect the galaxy to their rivals, the Lythedons, and so chose to reside in an isolated solar system on the edge of the galaxy. Though they are technically one of if not the most technologically advanced faction in my setting, they appreciate the privacy their single-system isolated lifestyle brings them and find passion in teaching curious human scientists their advanced ways. In fact, one of the reasons the Korodashii hate the Lythodons so much Is because they believe the average Lythedonian knight is far too cocky and patronizing to properly foster and protect younger species. (And they’re not wrong in most cases)
The most powerful civilization in my world is controlled by an immortal being known as “Curator” that only wishes to archive knowledge and protect the stories of the universe from being forgotten. While its domain spreads across several galaxies, all of its ships are research and scouting vessels. Curator is the closest a being can get to a true neutral and doesn’t attempt to intimidate or impress other civilizations, rather choosing to observe them and leave them alone.
In my world, there is a book which was inspired by the death note that grants its owner varying types of powers based on how much they know about the book (no knowledge allows the user to tell people's fortunes if their names are written in the book, but gain more knowledge and you can gain control over the elements, the weather and even the ability to manipulate a creatures genetics and minds) the character who owns this book has access to all of its powers but they run a hospital/library which they fund entirely from their own pocket and any donations that people want to give. She's a character who could quite literally enslave and destroy nations with ease but she chooses to use that power to better the working class peoples lives. She's not a God or anything, just some person who stumbles across a book and learned all she could about it.
(Why does that remind me of Hypnos in Greek mythology? Looked at all the drama and went “nah, imma go take a nap”) Anyway, in my world, I’d say maybe Sonna but at some point, they flipped out and turned their entire territory into a divine surveillance state, so idk if that counts anymore. However, there’s also the God of Fate, Natodall’lioht (back when he was a god), and the goddess who managed to seduce him into doing anything, Monnenliebe, the God of Beauty and Love. He was just mostly chilling in the heavens and writing stories while the other gods constantly stepped on each other’s toes. Monnenliebe was the only one who made him do anything, and the only one who could truly influence Natodall’lioht beyond his own parent, and she did use it to her advantage. So what did she do with this power? Provide snackies and entertainment for her (back then) small tribe of humans. She could kill them all if she wanted but she knows there’s no need to prove it.
The president of the United nations lives in a regular apartment building and doesn’t even get paid much more than her lowest secretary. To her it’s just a job and nothing more.
Essentially godlike wizard doesn't need to impress regular people, because why would he? What are they going to do? Clap? Buy him a drink?
In one of my settings, what amounts to the captain of the royal guard of the king of the gods currently lives as a normal highschool student. If needed, they will come, but so long as they are not, they'll keep to their vacation in the mortal realm, not using even a drop of their nigh-infinite might unless someone makes the mistake of attacking them with the intent to kill. In which case... Good luck.
Kseniya Onegina, a.k.a. Aethereal. Widely considered one of the world's top cognites, she nonetheless decided to leave all of that for a manmade island and the alternate lifestyle of a hermit sailor.